Monday, June 14, 2010

Reunion

Two weekends ago I attended a reunion for the small, private school where I went to Kindergarten and 1st grade. A few of my family members - a cousin and uncle on my mom's side, two cousins on my dad's side - also attended school there in the 70s-early 80s, and my grandmother taught there for several years. The reunion was for faculty, staff, and any students that had attended the school, and I had the pleasure of making the trip with my grandmother. My uncle and his wife were also there, so along with being a school reunion, it was a mini family reunion as well.

My mom had driven to my house earlier in the week, and we got up bright and early on Saturday morning to go pick up my grandmother for the trip to a neighboring state. A few hours of driving, plus the reunion, plus another few hours home gave us plenty of time to visit, but it was also a long enough trip that it was nice to be able to share the driving.

The enthusiasm displayed by her former students (on the alumni page on Facebook) was one of the main reasons Mom and I decided to make the trip. My grandmother doesn't travel much anymore, so it was really a big deal to make the trip. And I'm so glad we did.

Attending the reunion with my grandmother was like spending the day with a celebrity! So many former students sat down to talk with her - to thank her, to tell her how important she was to their education, to tell her that they still use the lessons she taught them (mainly English, but she also taught Art and History). When folks asked me how I was connected to the school, they didn't recognize me as having been a student when they were there, too - but they did make the connection when I told them that she was my grandmother.

I took a lot of photographs during the reunion, and plan to get them printed out for my grandmother this week. I can't wait to take her a photo album filled with photos of her former students and colleagues as they visited with her that day.

A huge thanks to the folks who worked so hard to organize the reunion. They even brought the sign and planted it at the reunion site that day, which was a total surprise! (I admit I got a bit teary when I saw it - I'm sentimental that way.) I'm looking forward to future reunions, and hope that my grandmother and other family member will be able to attend next year.